Monday, October 17, 2016

Today in Soap Opera History (October 17)

1988: Guiding Light's Josh argued with Reva. 1988: Days of our Lives'' Tom & Alice were married. 2002: All My Children's Leo & Vanessa died at Miller's Falls.
2007: Days of our Lives' John "died" after being hit by a car.

"More and more, I tend to read history. I often find it more up to date than the daily newspapers."
― Joe Murray

"Today in Soap Opera History" is a collection of the most memorable, interesting and influential events in the history of scripted, serialized programs. From birthdays and anniversaries to scandals and controversies, every day this column celebrates the soap opera in American culture.

On this date in...

1966: On Dark Shadows, Matthew (Thayer David) tried to dissuade Mrs. Johnson (Clarice Blackburn) from working at Collinwood, but she accepted Elizabeth's (Joan Bennett) offer to be housekeeper.

1979: On As the World Turns, Lois suggested that "studying" with Betsy (Suzanne Davidson) would be a great cover for going to parties. Dee (Jacqueline Schultz) received a returned letter.

1979: On The Edge of Night, Deborah Saxon (Frances Fisher) arrived home to find her apartment ransacked.

1980: Daniel Davis debuted as Eliot Carrington in Texas. James Douglas played the role on Another World from 1972-1974.

1984: On The Edge of Night, Sky (Larkin Malloy) proved that Geraldine accidentally shot Logan instead of Dave Grace, who broke into Logan's apartment and was shot by Logan.

1988: On Days of our Lives, Tom (Macdonald Carey) and Alice Horton (Frances Reid) were married again.

1988: On Guiding Light, Josh Lewis (Robert Newman) wanted to know if he and Reva Shayne (Kim Zimmer) still had a chance.

2002: On All My Children, Leo du Pres (Josh Duhamel) and his mother, Vanessa (Marj Dusay), fell off a bridge to their deaths at Miller's Falls during a struggle over her gun.

2003: On The Young and the Restless, J.T. Hellstrom (Thad Luckinbill) saved Colleen Carlton (Lyndsy Fonseca) from the fire started by Kevin Fisher (Greg Rikaart) that destroyed "Gina's Place" -- noteworthy in itself, because the restaurant had been a Genoa City fixture since the first episode, having previously been "Pierre's" (1973-74); "The Allegro" (1974-80); and "Jonas' Place" (1980-83) before Gina Roma bought it in 1983 with money loaned to her by Jack Abbott.

Thanks to FoxCrane for sending in the item above.

2007: On Days of our Lives, John Black (Drake Hogestyn) "died" after being hit by a car. John turned up alive in January 2008.

2014: RTL4 broadcast the 5,000th episode of popular Dutch soap opera Goede Tijden, Slechte Tijden. A special GTST app was launched to help celebrate the milestone.

Thanks to Mark for sending in the item above.

2014: Former One Life to Live and Guiding Light actress Crystal Hunt was sentenced after pleading no contest to assaulting a woman at a West Hollywood bar. Hunt was ordered to spend three years on formal probation and 45 days working for Caltrans.